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Pens Elite Alum Rayla Clemons Finds Balance of Success in Hockey and Building Future in Medicine at Syracuse University
From small town Franklin, Michigan to the 315 as a standout forward for the Syracuse Orange women’s hockey team, Rayla Clemons is living proof that “dreams do not work unless you do.”
This quote by John Maxwell is certainly not something Clemons considered when her hockey journey began at five, but now, it is a saying that applies to the amount of sacrifice she endured while aiming to play Division I women’s ice hockey.
“I was three years old when my parents took my brother and I to some open skating,” said Clemons about her first time on the ice. “While we were there, my brother saw some hockey players, and he thought it was really cool. He wanted to just start playing for fun. After about a year of going to see his games and seeing him on the ice, I knew I wanted to do the same.”
For almost a decade, Clemons would play hockey on boys’ teams before transitioning to girls’ hockey in middle school.
“I think it helped me a lot,” said the Michigan native on playing hockey with boys in her youth. “I never wanted to be seen as the girl who was weaker, not as fast, or not as strong. I always pushed myself really hard to keep up with the boys or to be better than them. I think that competitiveness and mentality from playing boys helped me be where I am today.”
Eventually, Clemons played junior hockey; a place in which she started continually running into Pens Elite, a junior hockey organization out of Pittsburgh. After seeing how their organization was helping to produce college hockey players, Clemons decided that traveling to Pittsburgh to be a part of their organization was a step she wanted to take.
600 miles round trip in a vehicle was not enough for Clemons or her family to give up a chance to play for Pens Elite and continue to strive towards college hockey. In the 2019-20 season playing in 19U, she helped the team win the 2019-20 district championship and qualify to play in USA Hockey Nationals in 2020. Clemons was no stranger to nationals as she previously played for Little Caesars 16U and played in nationals in 2016.
However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, her time with Pens Elite was cut short. Despite this premature ending, she can look back and feel satisfied by the 179 goals and 239 assists she scored from 14U through 19U.
Even bigger than the amount of points was that fact that turned a dream into a reality, as a collection of college programs offered her to join their team. Ultimately, she decided to play for Syracuse University, a program she helped lead to the NCAA Tournament in the 2021-22 season.
“Committing definitely came at a time when I was pretty stressed out about figuring out what I wanted to do and where I wanted to be. When I got in contact with Syracuse, though, the coaches were very nice. I loved the campus when I came to visit, and the academics seemed to fit exactly what I wanted to do. So, all these things falling in line really helped me make my decision.”
In her two years of collegiate hockey, she’s scored six goals and dished out eight assists while helping the Orange to the College Hockey America (CHA) regular season title for the 2021-22 season and to a CHA Championship victory in 2022. With the CHA crown this past season, Clemons got to check off another goal on her list, which was to play in the NCAA Tournament. She said this about the experience she had.
“It definitely was (a dream come true),” she said. “It was a little disappointing to lose in the first round, but I just had to remind myself that so many other teams do not even get the opportunity to play there. I am just really proud of my teams the last two years. We all share this same passion and think and care about hockey as much as I do.”
Outside of hockey, Clemons spends most of her time attending other Syracuse University athletic events and working towards earning a degree in medicinal chemistry. With this major, she hopes once her hockey career concludes she will become an orthopedic or neurosurgeon.
“Neurosurgery has been my goal since around middle school,” said the current Syracuse forward. “I always had an interest in helping people and in the brain and how it works. I think blending those two together is really my dream.”
Orthopedic surgery is a more recent emergence after some knee injuries opened her eyes to the role an orthopedic surgeon can play in assisting people back to their old selves. This summer, she will shadow an orthopedic surgeon at the University of Michigan while spending the summer at home and continuing her training for the 2022-23 college season.
Through her two years playing women’s college hockey, she’s been able to see some positive shifts in the game in which the talent continues to improve and a bigger investment and emphasis is being made on the sport.
“I think the more attention to women’s hockey and girls’ hockey can get, the more we will keep developing. I think supporting girls’ hockey right now is the best thing to do because girls are exciting to watch just as much as the men.”
Clemons also is a minority in the sport of hockey as a young, black woman. She has been one of the few black athletes on her teams or squaring off against her over the years. Though she is proud to be representing this, she wants to be seen just like everyone else on the ice.
“I think it is really important. We see it on my team as the only minority. I think what is most important in terms of this topic is that I do not get treated differently. I just want to be seen as just another girl on the team. There are a lot more minorities and people of color that are getting into hockey, and that is just really exciting to see.”
In terms of her game and skills as a player, Clemons can be classified as a speedster and skill oriented player in which she helps to lead and distribute as an offensive talent for the Orange. Though, she is not satisfied with not being classified as tough, too. The weight room will continue to be a point of emphasis as she gears up for her third season of college hockey.
With unwavering family support in her corner, a drive to succeed on the ice and in the classroom, and kindness that is to be celebrated, Rayla Clemons continues to be on a path towards excellence both in athletics and one day in medicine. Her stops in Western Pennsylvania helped to change her life for the better, proving the region has a bit of something that can help everyone; even if someone lives 300 miles away.
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